Lawyers want Aaron Hernandez moved from Dartmouth jail

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 5:01 PMJun 21, 2014 at 5:56 AM

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

FALL RIVER — Aaron Hernandez’s lawyers are requesting that the former Patriots tight end be transferred from the Bristol County House of Corrections in Dartmouth, in part because Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson has “exploited” Hernandez for publicity, they say.

The Boston-based defense team also says having Hernandez, 24, moved to the Suffolk County House of Corrections will make it easier for him to meet with his lawyers, who are now representing Hernandez in two murder cases in both counties.

In Bristol County, the defense team says Hernandez has been subject to “unreasonable restrictions” in not always being able to speak privately with his lawyers, or having his in-person attorney visits subject to a “bizarre and unprecedented restriction” that limits their location to a designated visitation room.

The defense team also accuses the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office of collaborating with the district attorney’s office to obtain evidence in his criminal case, such as notifying prosecutors of some of Hernandez’s recorded jailhouse phone conversations.

“The reach and depth of the collaboration between the sheriff and the district attorney is breathtaking, with the sheriff and his staff working at the beck and call of the prosecution team on a daily basis,” Hernandez’s lawyers in a court filing. They also accused Hodgson of using Hernandez for self-promotion and “virtually nonstop publicity of every imaginable kind.”

Hernandez has been held without bail at the Dartmouth jail since his arrest in June 2013 on murder and firearms violations stemming from the fatal shooting of Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough. Hernandez is also charged with two counts of murder for his alleged role in a 2012 double homicide in Boston.